Seasons change

Was bringing Ava back only to kill her off another sign of DAYS being too gloomy? Will the approaching spring bring a rebirth and a new light to Salem? This week the role of Two Scoops meteorologist will be played by one of our columnists' evil twins... er, siblings.

Note: For this week's column, the part of Laurisa will be temporarily played by her sister, Bethany.

Watching this week, as well as several of the past weeks, I found myself trying to predict who would be the next character to cross over in each storyline. At times, trying to keep track of Hope/Rafe/Andre/Chase/Ciara/Theo/Hope/Rafe/Chad/Andre/Hope/Mystery Caller (Deimos?) + Kayla/Steve/Joey/Ava/Roman/Kayla/Joey somewhat felt like I had gotten lost in a long math equation. But, like any long equation, solving for "x" is a tedious process. DAYS gave us several "x's" to solve for this week. There are several unwritten rules when it comes to siblinghood. One of those rules outlines the control the television remote, and the rule is simple: the older siblings dictate what plays on TV. In the mid-late nineties, if you were ten years old and your sister was seventeen, you probably knew all the words to the Dawson's Creek theme song and you can still recall which Michael Bolton song was playing when Zack and Kelly broke up on Saved by the Bell -- "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You." But, if you were really lucky, you might just remember the beginnings of Princess Gina, the craziness of Susan Banks, or even the truth of Will's paternity. Through this "unwritten-remote-control-law," my sister, perhaps unknowingly, introduced me to DAYS in the mid-late nineties, and I have never looked back. When my sister left for college and I earned the privilege of using the remote control, I had to make a few ends meet in order to continue watching DAYS. I made it through the era of setting the VCR to record over a VHS tape every day during my middle and high school years, in college I may or may not have scheduled a few classes around the time DAYS aired, and once the world of TiVo and DVR recording became the norm, I found that the choice of nightly viewings vs. weekend binge watching could sometimes be difficult. Nevertheless, thanks to my sister, I've been a DAYS fan for eighteen years. Focusing on Chase first, this is a dark and I feel very conflicting storyline for him, but should we really expect anything else? Somewhere in Chase's mind, he has the suppressed memories of his mother's murder and his father, well, I would best describe Aiden's actions as desperate. So it seems that fate would have Chase encounter and -- possibly -- endure this feeling of darkness and confusion. I'm not going to use the word "crazy" to describe Chase, although I do think it could get to that point -- and DAYS has seen some good "crazy" young actors in recent history with Robert Scott Wilson and my favorite Blake Berris, but Chase hasn't reached that level of crazy -- yet. Leave it to Andre to "mentor" and "befriend" Chase. Evil influencing the young and conflicted is never good for Salem. I do wonder how long it will take for the truth about Ciara's rape to surface. There are two characters I would like to see make this discovery, and Hope is not one of the two. I don't see how Hope would realistically be able to discover this secret while she is busy trying to cover two, three, or four of her own. My first thought is that Theo should discover the truth. I am really liking both Kyler Pettis and Vivian Jovanni. I think they work well together, and I think Ciara and Theo work well together. I like that Theo wants to protect her, yet he doesn't come off as being overbearing or as someone who "knows what's best" for Ciara. If Ciara doesn't confide in Theo about what has happened, then I would like to see her tell Shawn. There have not been many Shawn and Ciara scenes, and I think there should be more. Let Shawn play the big brother-detective role that would make the most sense for the son of Bo and Hope. Plus, Brandon Beemer is amazing to look at, so I think he just needs more on-screen time! Hope, what a mess. How is Hope going to make it out of this continually growing web of lies. And who else is going to become a part of it? I like how Rafe and Roman both want to protect her, but what is going to happen when the truth is all revealed? Also, who is left to discover the truth...Chad, Victor, Shawn, Justin, Deimos? The idea of a Horton framing a DiMera for murder is certainly a reversal of roles, but is it actually going to work? I do feel fearful for Chad and the ominous warning Andre issued to him at the police station. And just for the sake of asking a silly soap question, is Stefano really dead? It certainly seems that way, especially with Hope's mysterious phone call, but I'm surprised the writers would not give Joseph Mascolo a greater exit story. Speaking of people being dead, it seems like Ava flew in and out faster than you can say "Salem!" I wonder if this storyline is going to somewhat mirror Lucas going to jail for Will when he shot E.J. I think James Lastovic is doing an awesome job with Joey. I like his scenes with the younger actors, and I especially enjoyed his scenes with Stephen Nichols this week. What seems most fitting about this storyline is that even though Ava really wasn't around for very long, there are now endless ripple effects for Kayla, Steve, and Joey. Last week, Tony discussed the darkness surrounding DAYS, and I have to agree. It has been hard to find a great deal of light in many of the storylines, which is maybe why Brady, Nicole, and Theresa have traveled to sunny California. Although I am not sold on the following Daniel's heart/memories storyline, I am always sold on just about whatever Eric Martsolf is doing, and I have been since his days before DAYS as Ethan on Passions. Anyway, I might be able to somewhat "dig" this Summer storyline simply for that reason. As a high school English teacher, I teach the representation and symbolism of weather and the seasons as it applies to literature. So, I am going to try the same approach here. In literature, in the simplest terms, spring represents rebirth or youth. This new teen scene seems to be the rebirth of almost every DAYS storyline, and what I like most about that is that even though much of it is dark now, there is room to grow and really help develop some deep connections and characters for the future of DAYS. Summer, in the literary context, represents passion and other rather intense emotions including love and anger. Summer also represents life. I am going to hold on to the hope that Summer will come back with Brady and company and that she will be Maggie's daughter. This could bring a little bit of happiness and life back to Salem.

Who is Jade?

Did Paul have a heart-to-heart with the teen in the square?

Is Chase still standing outside Jen's house?

Hot -- Lani and Paul

Even though it was only one scene this week, I like these two, and it makes so much sense that they could become very close friends. Aside from the fact that they both just found their long-lost/thought-to-be-dead fathers, I think they share the genuine interest in wanting to help people, specifically young people on the show. Lani really wants to look after and guide Theo, and in the short time Paul has been in Salem, numerous scenes have involved him interacting with kids or standing up for someone. Also, neither of them has any real baggage/secrets (that we know of) following them around Salem. Obviously, Paul encountered some excitement when he first came on the scene, but with Will and Sonny out of Salem, his waters are rather still.

Not -- Belle and Philip

I have always been a Belle fan, but I feel that there are too many other storylines with much more impact on other characters right now to focus on Belle and Philip. I know it's a soap, and to say that I'm not into some recycled romantic relationship doesn't hold much weight, but I'm beginning to become a little annoyed with Belle saying that she needs to focus on and help Claire but instead somehow always ending up in bed with Philip.

Line of the Week -- Summer explaining why Daniel left L.A.

"But he didn't like L.A. that much; he wanted to live where the pace was a little bit slower.

...because baby-swaps, affairs, revelations of long-lost family members, serial killers, kidnappings, and multiple families worth millions of dollars usually dictate a slower lifestyle.

Random Thoughts

I'm assuming Arianna is in the room above the pub where Joey spent most of his early childhood...

Is Eve still in New York, waiting for Claire at the airport?

What is Belle really going to do with a nightclub? I'm glad that Claire called her out on trying to "buy" her love.

Just to help with planning your schedule, Chad and Abigail's wedding has been moved back to Salem with a date TBD.

Deimos is a creep. "Oh, this elderly woman just passed out. I better take her back to my hotel room." Yeah, that's normal.

Is Malcolm still alive, or are those old text messages? Also, why is that phone circa 2003? Deimos spent thirty years in prison; is he using T9 to text?

Did anyone else get flashbacks from every horror movie ever when the voice on Hope's phone told her "You killed the wrong man!"?

What are your thoughts on ? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.